There has been a continuing need for a packaging technique which is environmentally safe, and which also uses few resources so as to realize an extreme saving in terms of materials.
The problem which has been solved by the present invention is thus to provide a package which employs flexible material and an outer member, and in which they cooperate to provide a packaging construction which is strong, has an appearance which is well adapted to the purpose, and is comfortable to handle. In the case where the outer member is a frame, it is also desired that the consumption of materials be minimal.
The combination of flexible material and stiff material is a well-known packaging concept. There is, for example, the bag-in-box technique, where a plastic bag is contained in an outer package such as, for example, of the folding box type. This technique uses a great amount of material, and is perhaps basically motivated by the fact that cardboard is traditionally considered to be that material which sells the product, because of its ability to bear pressure and to be decorated.
However, the ability of the outer cardboard to stand stably is not especially good. One thus often finds that an arched or outwardly convex surface, which is produced the by means by which it has been filled, by handling, etc., is the surface which is ultimately intended to serve as the standing surface.
Because of its lengthwise sealed parallelogram structure, an outer package in the shape of a so-called folding box has only moderate resistance to diagonally acting forces. The folding box, therefore, collapses rather easily under a load.
In addition to the conventional cardboard and capsule techniques, there are also a large number of other techniques which in one way or another utilize a combination of flexible material and stiff material such as cardboard.
For example, Swedish Patent No. 432,576 shows a flexible package having a wrapper made of cardboard. This wrapper has a significant width and is placed along the broad sides of the flexible package. When using the wrapper, the package is made resistant to pressure by folding down laterally sealed tins of the flexible package towards the outside, and by allowing pressure to press these downwardly folded tins towards the pressure-bearing wrapper.
A combination of a bag and a stiffer wrapper is also shown in U.S Pat. No. 327,243.
Furthermore, in German Patent No. 22 15 350 it is shown how to make a plastic bag standable by fastening a strip having a profile roughly corresponding to the shape of sigma or W to its bottom.